The information on the various Tips &
Tricks pages is provided as is. Neither ammoclip.com, our parent company,
employees, owners or the author assumes any liability for accidents,
injury or damages resulting from the use or misuse of the information. It is our position that any changes made to
a gun or component of it be performed by a competent gunsmith.

Never use live ammo for fitting or testing unless
the gun is pointed in a safe direction at an appropriate shooting range. Hand
cycling live ammo thru a gun can cause the ammo to become unsafe if fired later.
Always wash your hands after handling ammo as it may contain lead or other
chemicals.

We do not accept returns of altered, damaged or obviously
used parts. Our published return policy can be found using the
"Information" button at the top
of each product page and on our checkout form.

Pictured above is a factory magazine package from Savage as received in
September 2009.

Guns vary and so do magazines from one production run to another.
Any new or used magazine may need to be fitted to the gun and in some cases the ammo
that will be used with the gun, even a factory manufactured magazine as shown on
product packaging above. With many older guns the magazines were hand
fitted or selected for the gun and any replacement magazine may also need to be fitted to the
gun. In some cases as little as .002 inches will be the difference between a
magazine fitting or not. We do not accept returns on altered, damaged or heavily
used magazines.

Guns and magazines are made using different manufacturing processes.
CNC,
Investment Casting,
Hammer forging,
stamping, and
milling
are some of the manufacturing processes used. Each type of manufacturing
process can have variances from the first gun produced to the last and within
each production run. Wear on the tooling will also cause variances. Other
variances can occur when the parts are hardened, stippled, coated or blued. Many
years ago I watched new guns being assembled at Coonan Arms. The person
assembling the guns would take each part from a box of them and check it for fit
in the gun frame, if it was to tight or lose another part from the same box was
tried until a good fit was achieved. Sometimes a whole lot of the parts would
not fit and they would need to be remanufactured, fitted or tossed.
Manufacturing in the US has improved greatly in the past 10 years but some
fitting of any new part introduced to the gun may be necessary.

New production non-factory magazines are made to fit examples of the gun the
manufacturer of the magazines have in their factories. The manufacturers check
the magazines for fit and live fire some from each batch to verify operation.
Varying degrees of wear or lack of in guns the customer has and other factors
like previous gunsmith work or what production run the gun came from will affect the fit on any new or used magazine a
person tries in a gun. Unfortunately there is no way to make a replacement
magazines that will fit and feed perfectly out of the package in all the different guns of the same
model encountered in the real world.

A magazine should never be forced into a gun. If the magazine is to tight it
should be examined to see why it is to tight. A rough edge on the catch slot,
slots on the sides, counting holes, top edges or a weld on the seam may be the
cause. It may be the magazine body is slightly larger (as little as .002 of an
inch) then the magazine well of the gun, the magazine body will need t be
adjusted in this case. A competent local gunsmith should be able to fit the
magazine to the gun.

If the magazine fails to lock into the gun it will need to be adjusted to the
gun. On side catch magazines an adjustment of as little of .005 of an inch with
a file may solve the problem. If the catch slot is filed to much the magazine
not fit properly and cause feeding problems. I have been told by one
manufacturer of new production poly magazines they are made tight to fit all the
various guns of the same model encountered and will break in
with use.

Failure to feed can be caused by many different factors not
magazine related.

A new magazine may not solve a preexisting problem.

A new magazine or a magazine with an extended capacity may have a stronger
spring then the original magazine that worked in the gun. The old recoil spring
may not be able to overcome the extra friction caused by the new or extended
magazine. If the new or extended magazine works fine with only a few rounds
loaded into it this may be the problem.
Wolff gunsprings makes many different recoil springs that may be necessary
to solve this problem. They also make reduced strength magazine springs that may
be necessary for proper feeding with light loads or in compensated guns. They
have a great
FAQ
section on springs.

Some brands or types of ammunition
may feed better then others in any gun. Most older guns and some new guns were
made to feed plane smooth round nosed ammo. Use of hollow points or other types
of truncated ammo may cause feeding problems. Also there is different loads for
any given caliber, different loads may feed better then others. Use of a load
that is greater then the gun was designed for can be dangerous, the manufacturer
of the gun should be consulted for proper ammo recommendations.

Feed lips on the magazine may need to be adjusted to the gun and in some cases
the ammo that will be used. Feed lips may be hardened and will crack if
adjusted to much. The adjustment may be as little as .005 of an inch. Generally
feed lip spacing needs to be increased if feeding low and decreased if feeding
to high. Also note the feed lips may drag on slide feed rail if decreased in
width too much.

We do not accept returns of altered, damaged or obviously
used parts.

All magazines listed on this web site should be cleaned
and oiled before use. Most will be covered with a protective oil or old
Cosmoline. Used magazines are exactly what the word implies and all photos are
of cleaned magazines actual product may vary as they are used.

Some replacement gun parts may require fitting or
adjustment for proper operation